Imphal: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) announced that a High-Level Committee (HLC) chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah has approved an additional Rs 153.36 crore in central assistance for Manipur to aid recovery from the devastating hailstorm that struck the state earlier in 2024.
According to a statement by the ministry, it has sanctioned assistance under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF), subject to an adjustment of 50% of the opening balance for the year available in the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF).
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This financial support, aimed at bolstering the state’s ongoing relief and rehabilitation efforts, came in response to a memorandum submitted by the Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) to the Prime Minister in the first week of May 2024.
In the memorandum, the Congress urged the Prime Minister to declare the unprecedented natural disaster in the form of the hailstorm with strong wind in extreme weather conditions in different parts of the state on May 5, 2024, as a national disaster and grant of immediate relief of a minimum of Rs 200 crore for the affected people in a time-bound manner.
The MPCC, President K Meghachandra, in a letter served to the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, states that the unprecedented natural disaster in the form of hailstorms with strong winds in extreme weather conditions has affected large parts of the state of Manipur.
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In the history of the state, the people of Manipur have not yet experienced a natural disaster of such magnitude, which has damaged nearly 15,600 houses.
Considering the seriousness of this natural disaster in the state, the MPCC president requests that the Prime Minister to immediately declare it a national disaster.
He also urges the Prime Minister to grant a minimum central relief of Rs. 200 crore for the affected people of Manipur in a time-bound manner, in the larger interest of the people.